Improvement in clothes-driers



's. EILLIS' & A. summzn.

Clothes-Briers. Pate-ntedlan. 20.1874

Ewe/22725? 1 NITED STATES PATENT FFIGE:

SMITH A. ELLIS, OF oTTAwA, AND ANTHONY SUMMER, or GLANDORF, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT INCLOTHES-DRIERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 146,584, dated January20, 1874; application filed August 19, 1873.

Toall whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, SMITH A. ELLIS, of Ottawa, Putnam county, Ohio, andANTHONY SUMMER, of Glandorf, in the county of Putnam and State of Ohio,have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Revolving Clothes-Driers, of which the following is a specification:

Our invention relates to that class of clothes driers in which areemployed a series of arms or supports, radiating from a common center orsecondary arm, upon which the clothes to be dried are arranged, saidsupplemental arm being connected with the main arm through the medium ofsuitable fastening devices, such as slides, spring-jaws, hooks or rings,or their equivalents, in such a manner that the main and supplementalarm may be brought in contact or close to each other, for the purpose ofconfining and retaining firmly in place the clothes which are interposedbetween the two. The invention also consists in arranging above thesupporting-arms a protector or awning, which is made in sections, andprovided with devices for connecting it with a plate-on the verticalshaft, and hooks or eyes on the main supporting-arms, in such a mannerthat the same can be attached or detached with ease and facility, forthe purpose of protecting the clothes from rain or snow, and, further,to protect that class of apparel upon which the rays of the sun have adamaging eifect.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical side elevation of our improvedclothes-drier as attached to the wall of a building by brackets in on anenlarged scale; Fig. 3, a detached view.

of the plate for holding the awning and the braces of the main arms.

The letter A designates a vertical shaft, which may be supported andretained in such position by any suitable frame-work, in the presentinstance being arranged in top and bottom brackets B B, secured upon theoutside wall 0 in front of a window, D. Upon this shaft is secured ajam-nut or collar, E, for

the purpose of adjusting upon the shaft vertically a loose hub, carryinga series of arms, which serve as a direct or indirect medium forsupporting the clothes to be dried. From this its edge, in such a mannerthat the main arms are equally braced and supported against a downwardpressure, and thus retained at a proper angle with respect to the shaftA. The hub G is provided with an extended tube or sleeve, I), so as toact in conjunction with the hub and braces in sustaining the arms in atrue horizontal plane, whether the weight upon the opposite arms beabout equal or not. A further office of this extended tube or sleeve isto aiford an elevated bearing-surface for the plate I, so that a properpitch can be imparted to the braces and to an awning or protector, ashereinafter mentioned. The main arms F are made of wood or metal, as islikewise the hub, and said arms are made with a smooth top surface, asindicated by the letter 0, or with an incline, as at d. With these mainarms are combined movable supplemental arms J, upon which the articlesto be dried arearranged, said arms being connected withthe mainsupporting-arms F by any suitable means, such, for instance, as slides,spring-jaws, rings, hooks, or clasps, f, so that when the bar J issupplied with articles to be dried, and is connected, as aforesaid, withthe main arms, a clamping action will be exerted upon the interposedclothes, and the same will be held firmly in position without the aid ofother fastenings, and all liability of accidental detachment avoided.The supplemental arms will be made either with a plain. or flat topsurface their entire length, or with a part flat and part inclinedsurface, as shown by letters 0 d, and in either instance they areconnected to the main arms by fastenin gs f, or their equivalents.

By the use of the supplemental arms or bars and rendering them'capableof attachment and detachment, the labor of suspending clothes to bedried is much lessened, since the apparel is placed upon thesupplemental bar or arm J while it is detached and arranged upontrestles,.stands, or otherwise, in close proximity to the launder, sothat when said bar is supplied with its amount of clothing, it isattached to the arm F, as before stated, and another arm, J, broughtinto requisition, and so on in succession.

In order to protect the clothes during the drying process from dust,rain, or snow, I arrange above the bars an awning or covering, K, madeup of sectional pieces, in a circular form, as shown. This awning isconnected, by suitable fastenings h i, with the runner or plate I, andwith the main supporting-arm F, in such a manner as to assume aninclined position with respect to the vertical shaft A, for the purposeof running off rain, &c. A cord, wire,

or rope, m, is connected with the outer ends of the main arms, for thepurpose of strengthening the same, and retaining them at equal distancesapart, and, further, to prevent that portion of the awning between thearms from sagging, and also to attach supplemental arms with hooks, &c.

We claim as our invention- 1. The movable supplemental arms J, forsupporting the material to be dried, in combi nation with the main armsF, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

2. The segmental awning K and runnerplate I, having fastening devices,as described, in combination with the clothes-supporting arms, their hubGr, and shaft A, sub stantially as described.

In testimony that We claim the foregoing we have hereunto set our handsthis 14th day of August, 1873.

SMITH A. ELLIS. ANTHONY SUMMER.

Witnesses JOHN HERMAN ALBRIGHT, FRANK ELLIs.

